Wrench



A. B. HEIMBACH.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1919.

Patented May 10, 1921.

UNITED stares PATENT @Ff'i j;

WRENGH.

Application filed May 10,

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALTON BUNKER HEIM- BAOH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to wrenches and has special reference to that type of wrench illustrated in my United States Patent No. 1,142,426 dated June 8th, 1915, and wherein one jaw of the wrench is directly manually slidable upon the shank or handle thereof.

The principal object of my present invention is to produce a wrench of this type better adapted for application to nuts or bolts located in difiicult places of access and the wrench being of general arcuate form, will permit of its reaching a nut behind an obstruction otherwise inaccessible.

Another object is to provide novel means of holding the cooperative jaws of the wrench in any desired spaced relation to each other.

Other objects and advantages of the peculiar construction will appear in the further description of the invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application and in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a front edge elevation of my improved wrench,

Fig. 2 is a rear edge elevation,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the head of the wrench showing a modified form of means to prevent slipping of the cooperative parts of the wrench, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55, Fig. 3. j

1 represents the arcuately-shaped body portion or shank of the wrench, it having formed therein the central longitudinally extending slot 2 in which the extension 3 of the movable jaw 4 is slidably mounted, the shoulders 5-5 of the movable jaw being of arcuate shape to snugly fit the curved front edge of the shank.

The extension 3 of the slidable aw carries upon the opposite edge of the shank to that of the jaw, a pin 6 upon which is mounted the arcuately-shaped actuating lever 7, the end 8 thereof being bifurcated to straddle Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lifa'y 10, 19121..

1919. Serial NO. 296,190.

the extension 3. A backwardly protruding lug 9 is formed integral with the extremity of the extension and acts as a stop to the upward motion of the lever 7 when the latter is opened for sliding themovable jaw back or forth.

When such stoppage occurs, the upper edge of the termination of the slot forming the bifurcation of'the handle will engage the under side of the lug, and when in this position, the flattened faces 10-10 of the bifurcated portion will bear against the concaved edge of the shank 1 and when in this position the movable maybe readily slid back or forth as desired.

The distance between the termination 11 of the flattened surfaces 10 and the center of the pivot 6 is greater than that between the center of the pivot and the center of the flattened surfaces and the adjacent curved portion 12 of the lever 7 is so formed in relation to the terminations 11 that when the portion 12 is lying snugly against the shank, ample stress upon the jaw 4 is provided for holding it securely in any predetermined position.

The portion 12 of the lever 7 which bears against the shank 1 is but a part of the entire length of the lever and in fact may be shorter than shown in the drawings, one object of which is to permit of the heel of said portion being filed ofi' slightly, as indicated in dotted lines at 13, if found necessary after long use of the wrench, thus rendering the grip of the sliding jaw as effective as it originally was.

For this purpose also the remainder, or handle portion of the lever is so shaped as to normally remain spaced from the edge of the shank 1, as well as to provide room for suitable leverage over the fulcrum thus formed.

A longitudinally elongated opening 14 is formed in the handle end of the shank for lightness of construction and convenience in holding the free end of the lever 7 tightly when in a confined position and only the fingers of the operators hand are applicable thereto.

The opposite end of the arcuately-shaped shank 1 has formed integral therewith the fixed jaw 15, the head of which is substantially semicircular in form as at 16 and the working face thereof extending radially from the arcuately-shaped shank.

The working face of the jaw 4 is not on a true radial line with the shank, but the outer free extremity thereof inclines slightly toward the fixed jaw 15, thus leaving an open space at the base of the jaws when their points touch, as clearly shown in the draw ings.

This construction results in the faces of the jaws being substantially parallel for all ordinary work though it is evident that when the movable jaw is freely withdrawn from the fixed jaw, the faces thereof will diverge outwardly.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, 1 have illustrated a modified form of holding means, in that the lever 7 is serrated, as at 17 and the back of the arcuately shaped shank 1 is similarly serrated, as at 18, for cooperative engagement with the serrations on the lever when the latter is brought in contact with the shank. However, it will be noted that in this construction, the flattened portion 10 of the lever is smooth and when the lever is in the position'shown in Fig. 4, the flattened portions thereof will slide over the serrations 18 without being affected by same, or, in other words, smoothly operate during the reciprocal adjustment of the jaw 4.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a wrench of the character described, the combination with an arouate ly-shaped shank having a fixed jaw at one end thereof, of a slidable cooperative jaw having a smooth arcuately-shaped body portion coinciding with the body portion of the shank and slidable upon the smooth convex edge thereof and means operative from the concave edge of the shank for adjusting and holding the slidable jaw in any desired predetermined position.

2. In a wrench of the character described, the combination with a shank in the form of an arc of a circle, a jaw formed integral with one end of the shank and extending radially therefrom, a slidable jaw having a smooth concave body portion engageable with the convex edge ofthe shank and means at the concave edge of the shank for sliding the movable jaw.

3. In a wrench of the character described, the combination with a shank in the form of an arc of a circle, and smooth upon all four sides thereof, a jaw formed integral with one end of the shank and extending radially therefrom, a slidable jaw having an elongated smooth concave body portion engageable with the convex edge of the shank and means at the concave edge of the shank for sliding the movable jaw and retaining it in any desired position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALTON BUNKER HEIMBACH.

Witnesses:

S. Gno. STEVENS, A. M. OUELLETTE. 

